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As the first ray of sunlight illuminated the city tower, Lu Fei and the generals walked out of the tent.
They had just planned the next offensive. After discussion, they decided to divide their forces into three routes. Luo Hong and Luo Xin would each lead a route, attacking from north to south along the main roads on both sides of Pengzhou City.
At the same time, Lu Fei ordered Cavalry Commander Bai Mu to lead a small detachment of cavalry to attack southward from the central road, luring the enemy out.
The secret agents in the city had already rendezvoused with them last night. According to the intelligence provided by the secret agents, Pengzhou City only had about a thousand cavalry, and these thousand cavalry had also mostly fled with the powerful families last night.
Overall, those still stubbornly resisting in the city were mainly the clan members of powerful families. These clan members held a higher status than ordinary soldiers in Pengzhou City, but were still below the powerful families.
Therefore, they were also pawns of the powerful families, but Pengzhou City also held their interests. Precisely for this reason, they couldn’t escape and could only continue to fight bitterly.
However, the number of these soldiers was small. After excluding the powerful families’ private armies, there were only over twenty thousand such soldiers in the Pengzhou army. They were ordered to stay in the city and continue to hold out, but what they didn’t know was that they had already become abandoned pawns.
In contrast to the army composed of these powerful family clan members, the soldiers from the common people had secretly come and surrendered to them during the night. The army composed of Pengzhou army clan members and the army composed of common people were two independent armies, and their treatment had always differed greatly in the past.
However, after this siege, Mi Kuang had forced these soldiers from common families to resist at the front, which had already caused dissatisfaction among many soldiers. Under the deliberate propaganda of the secret service, more and more soldiers began to consider surrendering.
For these soldiers, they didn’t care who ruled them. As long as they could save their lives and their families had food, it was enough.
So, from last night until dawn, six thousand soldiers had surrendered at the temporary camp in front of the city gate, and some soldiers had simply deserted and gone home.
“Advance!”
Lu Fei commanded. For him, today was the final battle within Pengzhou City. He wanted to completely control Pengzhou City. Last night, he had already sent a victory report to Qingzhou, and he certainly didn’t want to lose face in front of Xiao Ming.
Upon receiving the order, Bai Mu led the cavalry galloping towards the south of the city. The cavalry he led were the most elite breastplate cavalry of the Qingzhou Army. Now, besides being equipped with sabers, each cavalryman’s horse also had two short, sturdy pulley crossbows hanging on its sides.
The cavalry moved out, and the rumbling sound of hooves immediately echoed throughout Pengzhou City. The common people in the city were all hiding in their homes, not daring to come out. However, Niu Ben had always governed the army with extreme strictness, and not a single soldier harassed the common people during last night’s occupation.
In a city filled with buildings, it was difficult for artillery to be effective. Luo Xin could only keep the artillery at the city gate to support them at any time. After Bai Mu departed, they also advanced southward.
At this time, the south of Pengzhou City was deadly silent. Not a single person could be seen on the streets. When Bai Mu led the cavalry to arrive first, a wary expression appeared on his face.
The Qingzhou Army had always strictly followed Xiao Ming’s motto and never underestimated any opponent. This time, he likewise did not underestimate the Pengzhou Army. They took the city gate relying on the advantage of artillery, but now it was clear they would be caught in a street battle.
Bai Mu was also a core member of the Qingzhou Army, one of the earliest. He had always been under Lu Fei. This time, Lu Fei felt Bai Mu was capable, so he pleaded with Niu Ben to let Bai Mu go with the expedition.
Speaking of which, Bai Mu had been fighting on battlefields for over ten years, having experienced too many wars. He instinctively sensed the danger from the residential houses on both sides.
At this moment, he suddenly said, “Crossbow arrows!”
As his voice fell, a rapid sound of footsteps suddenly erupted, followed by the Pengzhou army surging out like a tide from the residential quarters on both sides.
“Kill!”
Soldiers wearing red inner linings and scale armor over their outer garments charged at them with swords and sabers, while at this moment, some archers appeared on the rooftops of the residential quarters.
A cold sweat broke out on Bai Mu’s back. Fortunately, relying on years of experience, he hadn’t gone too deep, otherwise not only would he fail to lure the enemy, but his soldiers would also suffer heavy losses.
Moreover, during the charge, he did not allow the cavalry to maintain a dense formation, but rather advanced dispersed, giving the cavalry ample room to maneuver.
Before these Pengzhou army soldiers charged out, the cavalry had already pulled out their pulley crossbows. They immediately fired at the archers on the rooftops of the civilian houses.
Bai Mu kept in mind that his objective this time was to scout and lure the enemy, which he had achieved. He was not foolish enough to use cavalry and infantry for street fighting, as this would be abandoning the cavalry’s most basic advantage.
“Retreat!” After one round of firing, Bai Mu immediately ordered a retreat. It would be too late if they didn’t leave now.
Having ascertained the location of the Pengzhou army’s ambush, Bai Mu immediately dispatched scouts to inform Luo Xin and Luo Hong, as they were the main force for this street battle.
In his opinion, the battle for Pengzhou City had only just begun.
At this time, Luo Xin and Luo Hong had already heard the commotion on the central street. Soon, the cavalry dispatched by Bai Mu arrived in front of them and conveyed the intelligence.
“Search house by house.” Luo Xin frowned tightly.
After his order was given, the soldiers immediately divided into detachments of a thousand men, each responsible for one block, pushing forward from south to north. In the east of the city, Luo Hong also adopted the same formation.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
Gunshots quickly rang out. Under the carpet search, the Pengzhou army’s ambushers had nowhere to hide. The battle quickly unfolded in the civilian blocks. Relying on firearms, bayonets, and strict training discipline, the Qingzhou army easily defeated the Pengzhou army hiding in the civilian blocks by using small linear formations for volley firing.
Fighting through one civilian block after another, Luo Xin and the others set out in the morning, and by evening, they had pushed the front line to the south city gate. After a day of fierce fighting, they finally completely occupied Pengzhou City. The stubbornly resisting Pengzhou army suffered over thirteen thousand casualties and over three thousand were captured. The Southern Expedition Army also paid the price of a thousand casualties.
“General, we have completely occupied Pengzhou City.”
In the lingering glow of the setting sun, Lu Fei appeared in front of the Mi family manor gate. At this moment, soldiers were searching for spoils of war in the Peng family manor.
Lu Fei nodded. On his way here, the road was littered with the bodies of Pengzhou soldiers, showing the intensity of today’s battle.
Just now, Luo Xin and Luo Hong were discussing the issue of prisoners of war. He then said to Lu Fei, “General, we have captured three thousand people. How should these people be handled?”
“Kill them all!” Lu Fei’s eyes suddenly became extremely cold.
“Kill them all!” Luo Xin’s heart skipped a beat.
Luo Hong, on the other hand, said, “General Lu, killing prisoners is inauspicious. I hope the General will think twice.”
Lu Fei’s will seemed very firm. He said, “No need to say more. These prisoners must be killed!”